In Defense of Sentimentality [Hardcover]

Philosophy has as much to do with feelings as it does with thoughts and thinking. Philosophy, accordingly, requires not only emotional sensitivity but an understanding of the emotions, not as curious but marginal psychological phenomena but as the very substance of life. In this, the second book in a series devoted to his work on the emotions, Robert Solomon presents a defense of the emotions and of sentimentality against the background of what he perceives as a long history of abuse in philosophy and social thought and art and literary criticism. The title piece reopens a classic debate about the role of sentimentality in art and literature. In subsequent chapters, Solomon discusses not only such moral sentiments as sympathy and compassion but also grief, gratitude, love, horror, and even vengeance. He also defends, with appropriate caution, the seven deadly sins. The emotions, at least some emotions--are essential to a well-lived life. They are or can be virtues, features of the human condition without which civilized life would be unimaginable.

In Defense of Sentimentalityis witty, funny and surprising and a great read for philosophers and non-philosophers alike. Having a sense of humor, says Solomon, is divine. The way Solomon uses a sense of humor to come to the defense of emotions not always considered in the need of defense, reallyisdivine. -Metapsychology Online Reviews

In Defense of Sentamentalitydoes not merely outline a philosophy of the heart; in defending the legitimacy of passionate experience, it also makes an articulate plea in favor of putting the heart back in to philosophy. --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Solomon's book is a rich, provocative, and far-ranging work filled with helpful examples from daily life, literature, and the history of philosophy. --Thomas Nadelhoffer,Philosophical Psychology

Robert C. Solomonwas Quincy Lee Centl*